


When Skies are Gray

by DickieBirb



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe, Batman - Freeform, Damibats, Dick Grayson is Robin, Gen, Robin - Freeform, Sometimes not beta'd, dynamic duo 2.0
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-01
Updated: 2016-09-01
Packaged: 2018-05-11 00:54:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 4,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5607589
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DickieBirb/pseuds/DickieBirb
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What do you get when you combine the efforts of an ever brooding Batman and his way-too-happy Robin? </p>
<p>A butler with a major headache. </p>
<p>- </p>
<p>A collection of Batman Damian with Robin Dick drabbles.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. New Year

**Author's Note:**

> \- Admin A

Ten minutes until midnight.

The living room is nearly completely dark. Only the television, stuck on the sight of hundreds of people awaiting the new year, illuminates the room. 

Damian watches Grayson settle on the couch next to him. He raises a curious brow when the boy brings his knees up to his chest and wraps his arms around them in a hug. Damian tries to focus his attention back on the television in front of him, but finds his gaze on Grayson again a few seconds later.

The boy seems so stiff and out of character compared to his usual constantly happy self. It's putting Damian on edge. 

He's not oblivious, of course. He understands that this is the first New Year's Grayson will be experiencing without his parents. It still baffles Damian that the kid can smile as much as he does after everything he's been through.

He looks at the grandfather clock; five minutes until midnight. 

His fingers twitch with the need to take action and help his Robin, but Damian isn't sure what he can do. His own parents are dead under different circumstances, and even then Damian did not handle their deaths very well. If he did, he wouldn't have a nine year old fighting by his side to improve the corrupted city that is Gotham. 

Two minutes to midnight.

People on the television are screaming with rising excitement. Damian risks another look at Grayson and feels his heart skip a beat. Grayson has his head between his knees now and his shoulders are shaking.

The boy is crying.

One minute.

Damian takes a deep breath. He quietly scoots closer to Grayson with a new sense of determination. Without hesitation, he brings an arm around his Robin's shoulders, and as gently as possible, tugs him closer to his side. 

"Thirty seconds!" A reporter announces on the screen in front of them.

Grayson's shoulders stop shaking as he looks up at Damian, bright blue eyes filled with more tears threatening to drop. They share eye contact for about five seconds before Grayson is all but pouncing on top of the older man. 

The young boy finally wraps his arms around Damian's neck and sobs into his chest. Damian closes his eyes and simply holds him, grasps the back of Grayson’s neck to ground him. 

"5! 4! 3!"

Damian decides at that moment that he will make this year far better for Grayson. 

"2! 1!"

He'll keep Grayson happy.

"Happy New Year!" 

Damian won't fail him like he failed himself.


	2. Ready for Anything

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Damian teaching Dick, and Dick teaching Damian.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- Admin A
> 
> Beta read. Thank you, Emma!

Dick is pinned once again. 

"You're leaving your lower half open too often. Your legs are vulnerable. You being off balance can drastically change the outcome of a match in seconds, and in that time you could be dead." Damian huffs and returns to his position a few feet away. 

Dick frowns and glares at the back of his mentor's head. It's not as if he couldn't just move quickly enough to avoid getting shot, or stabbed. Being on the floor isn't always the end of the world. Damian's just a drama queen. 

He gets up and into position once again.

This time, when Damian strikes at his legs, he smoothly jumps and aims to kick him, only for a hand to wrap around his ankle and drag him down.

He's pinned again.

"Being in the air is an even worse position, Grayson. If you miss, your opponent can easily use that to their advantage while you flail uselessly." Damian gets up once more and moves back into his ready stance. 

Dick blows his sweat-soaked hair out of his face and grunts. It's not fair! Damian is like three times his size and just as fast. It's still a wonder to Dick how Batman can be so large and also so quick. Damian never tells Dick about his own past training. 

Panting, he gazes up at the man and notices he's nowhere near as tired as Dick is. Does Damian ever run out of stamina? Dick decides it's not a fair test of his own combat skills when Batman himself is a walking brick wall.

He hums as an idea sparks to life in his head. Dick stands up and gets into position.

Instead of jumping, he quickly sidesteps hoping to use Damian's size against him and catch him off balance. It's futile. As soon as Dick lunges at him, Damian elbows him right in the face. It's not really painful, just enough to shock him really, but he drops to the floor anyway. 

"Don't keep your face so-" Damian cuts himself off once he sees Dick is crying. 

Got him. 

Dick has his face covered with both hands, doing his best not to smile as he hears Damian crouch down in front of him. 

"I’m positive I didn't hit you that hard. I apologize Grayson, often do I lose track of my own strength. Pennyworth warned me of this and I refused to acknowledge-" Dick saves Damian the trouble of babbling away and takes the opportunity to pounce on him with his full weight. 

Damian grunts as he falls backwards. Dick smirks at him as he sits on the man's chest, looking down at bewildered emerald eyes with a triumphant look. 

"Don't let yourself be so vulnerable, Batman. There's no guarantee your opponent will always be a heartless adult." He leans over with a sparkle in his eye and a grin to match. "Turtle position is a real easy way for you to end up dead!"

With a big laugh, Dick rolls off his mentor. 

"I'm gonna go see if Alfie has dinner ready yet!" Dick walks away with a skip in his step. 

When he glances back, he notices Damian is sitting up and gazing at him. He thinks he sees the man's mouth twitch into a small smile for a moment, but it disappears before he can be sure. 

Maybe one day.


	3. You Are My Sunshine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You are my sunshine,  
> My only sunshine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- Admin A
> 
> {Our tumblrs are in our bio!}

Grayson is light.

Grayson is the warmth of the sun on a summer's day. He's a firefly constantly attracting the attention of many. He's the always reliable burning fireplace during a snowstorm. Grayson is everything beautiful in the world, and what life could be had Damian met him sooner.

As it stands, Damian is darkness. 

He's the eerie feeling down a criminal's spine when the lights turn off and they're suddenly blind. He's big, he's strong, but he could never understand the meaning of being kind. The world wasn't kind to him, so why should he be? Damian is the cruel walking reminder of what happens when good and evil love each other, or think they did. 

Grayson is hope and Damian is hopeless.

Grayson says no while Damian accepts it. 

Grayson deserves better, and Damian doesn't.

A tap at the door brings Damian's attention back to reality. He's sitting at his desk in the library with a pile of horribly mundane papers in front of him. His pen is still in his hand, his fist wrapped tightly around it.

"Sir? Young master Dick wanted to ask if..." Pennyworth trails off as he peeks his head through the door and catches sight of Damian. 

Damian stares at him and wonders what he must look like. He had been sitting there since the sun was up, but a glance to his left reveals that it's now night. The lamp isn't even on. It would be useless to lie and say he was working.

Pennyworth doesn't ask though. Instead, he takes a few hesitant steps in before breaking into a stride, closing the distance between them. 

"Perhaps that's enough paperwork for tonight, Master Damian. You look rather worse for wear." Pennyworth whispers, placing a hand on Damian's shoulder and squeezing it softly.

Damian does not move.

"Hey Alfie, did you ask?" Another voice rings out much louder. A tiny head pokes into the library and zippy blue irises lock with green. They don't say anything. They speak through eye contact. It's seconds later that Grayson pushes the door open completely and makes his way over to Damian. They keep eye contact the whole way. 

Damian has never been good with words, but that doesn't matter to Grayson. None of Damian's flaws have _ever_ mattered to Grayson. 

It's the reason Batman finds himself lifting his Robin up onto his lap and embracing him in a full hug. He hopes it's enough; hopes Grayson understands. 

"Both of you should get something in your stomachs. I'm going to get the table set, and you two are having dinner. No arguments." Pennyworth announces next to him. Damian stands up and Grayson wraps a hand around his, smiling up at him as if Damian has never used those hands to take away lives. 

As his Robin leads him out of the room, Damian realizes something. 

Although his past may be engulfed in darkness, Grayson has done an astonishing job at being the alluring light directing him to a brighter path.


	4. Sing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Instead of with the sorrow and anger filled melody from before, the manor is filled with a lighter tune.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Valentine's Day!  
> \- Admin A and Admin H
> 
> Thank you [veras] for beta reading!

Dick is leaving his room for a glass of water when he hears it. There's music coming from downstairs, encompassing the manor in a tune he's never heard before. 

He can't explain it, but the fast paced rhythm and occasional pauses scream out with passionate anger. They speak a story that he's suddenly desperate to know. Eager to continue listening to the emotional outburst contained in said music, Dick sprints down the hallway, head whipping from side to side as he searches for the source. 

He stops by the kitchen, peeking inside to see Alfred chopping up onions which Dick can only assume he's preparing dinner with. The butler gives no hint that he hears the beautiful tune other than a distant look in his eyes. Dick leaves him be, carefully and gracefully gliding across the floor to the other side of the manor. 

He trails a hand across the grandfather clock on his way, the pendulum inside swaying to the music as he passes. The manor feels more animated, the fierce melody dispersing throughout the usually dreary and dull feeling staining the walls. 

Finally, as he looks over the railing to another room below, Dick can see the source of his auditory desires. Damian, with his eyes closed and brows pinched together, moves his fingers across a grand piano, a black turtleneck and matching sweatpants making him look even darker than usual. 

Dick can't help it, his jaw drops in awe as he gazes at the Batman himself in such a vulnerable state. Damian's head moves every now and then, lolling from one side to the other, the notes controlling him as much as he's controlling them. Dick slides down onto his knees, gripping the bars of the handrail tightly. 

As Dick watches, he realizes something. Damian has never been the best with words, though he tries to be. Dick doesn't know much about the man yet, but he does know that what Damian can't say in words, he makes up for in action. Perhaps that is what Dick is witnessing right now. 

Damian switches to a different tune and Dick is hit with an idea. It's risky, and Damian might be angry with him afterwards, but he decides that the pros outweigh the cons. He listens and stands up again, picking out the right time before he opens his mouth. 

Immediately Damian tilts his head up and locks eyes with his. Green eyes stare into Dick's very soul, surprise, anger, and then resignation flashing through them as Damian continues to play. 

Dick's voice and Damian's song harmonize as the young Robin descends the stairs, slowly making his way over to the man. He takes a seat next to Damian, pausing to catch his breath before breaking out into another song. 

Damian hasn't looked away from Dick since he began singing, and so Dick gets to witness the look of disgust form on Damian's face once he realizes the music and Dick's song are no longer matched up. As Dick planned, Damian changes the tune. Being the world's greatest detective, it doesn't take long for Damian to realize Dick's intentions. 

Instead of with the sorrow and anger filled melody from before, the manor is filled with a lighter tune. Dick sings of his time at Haly's Circus, of his adventures as Robin; he sings of all the small things in life like cute animals, a happy family somewhere in Gotham, and Alfred's cooking. He sings and sings, even after he runs out of things to say and is left just rising and lowering his voice to express joy. 

Damian isn’t quite smiling, but there’s no denying the happy look in Damian’s eyes. 

Soon enough, Dick notices movement coming from the corner of his peripherals. He trails his eyes upward and sees Alfred standing at the top of the stairs, the hints of a smile on his face as he gazes down at them. The music comes to an end. 

“Dinner is ready, Master Damian. Master Dick.” Alfred nods to them both before walking away. 

Dick lowers his gaze beside him. Damian is staring ahead, lost in his own world. Dick nudges him with his elbow, a bright smile playing on his lips. 

“Teach me?” He asks, gesturing to the piano.   
Damian glances at him, with his eyebrow raised and an amused look. 

“Okay,” he answers, getting up from his seat. 

Dick watches Damian make his way up the stairs and chuckles to himself before following after him.


	5. Family is family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Family ascends beyond blood. Dick wants Damian to know that.
> 
> Happy Father's Day!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- Admin H

For Dick, every year on this day was spent with the man that taught him everything that led him to becoming the person he was presently. 

Haly’s Circus would drop them somewhere in the world that Dick was unfamiliar with, and he would have to become acclimated to the constant change. 

Now, however, was different. Change had sped up for a moment then came to a screeching halt. The constants intimated him at first glance. Same house, same people, same city every day of the week.

There was a change today, though. As daunting as the idea of no change was these past months, he wasn’t going to let it deter him.

He hadn't known what he intended to do for _that_ day. He had gone to Alfred for advice, but the man gave him the simple response of, “Do what you feel is right for the both of you, Master Richard.” While that was insightful, it was difficult for a nine year old to fully comprehend what he meant at the time. Help really needed to be more user friendly in their household.

The closer to that day it got, the more Dick grew frustrated trying to come up with a plan. He didn't know what to do. Eventually, he reconsidered Alfred’s advice. Then, it hit him.

Materialistic things were not going to do any good, so when Dick focused in a different direction, things became clear.

That day was today, and Dick was ready. Well, as ready as he could ever be. It was funny how when he did things like this any other time, he would not even so much as hesitate.

The manor felt larger than normal today as Dick took light steps on his way to the office, where Damian was undoubtedly lurking. He spent far too much time in there which did nothing to help the overall emptiness of the manor. At least Alfie was moving around regularly throughout the day, occasionally making some kind of noise. Damian just never did. If he didn't know any better, he would have assumed the man was an apparition. 

With a quiet inhale of his breath, Dick opened the door to the office and let the sound of the old, worn hinges of the door creak as he did so. Even without the extra noise, Dick knew Damian had heard him enter. The Batman never missed a beat.

“Damian?” Dick’s voice reverberated louder than he wanted. Almost cautiously, Damian looked up from what he was doing and met his Robin’s gaze. With the same feather-like movement as before, Dick silently approached Damian until the space between them was no longer there.

“I, uh…” His words were getting strangely caught in his throat. He knew exactly what he wanted to say and how to say it, but it didn’t stop the struggle of enunciating what he was thinking. He inhaled and exhaled once more before trying again. “Dami, I wanted to say thank you for, um, everything, I guess. And I just wanted to, uh…” Before he could stop himself, Dick jumped into his mentor’s arms and pulled him into a hug. If there was anything Dick knew how to do right, it was give hugs. “I love you, Dami.”

Dick felt Damian tense around him in their embrace for a brief moment before relaxing into the embrace. They stayed like that for a good few seconds before Dick heard the faint breath of a man who hadn’t used his voice much that day. “I love you too,” is what it whispered, Dick was sure of it.

Pulling away, he looked at Damian with the charming Dick Grayson grin he was known for giving. He squished Damian’s cheeks between his hands and chirped out words in the tone that always seemed to make Damian a bit more happy.

“Happy Father’s Day, Dami!”


	6. The Beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A fatal "accident" results in a young Richard Grayson becoming an orphan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- Admin H

The boy was crying.

That was to be expected; Dick Grayson had just lost the two most important people in his life. He was lost, and at such a young age, Damian understood how he was feeling. His own mother died much earlier in his life than his father had. He valued both of them just as any son would, regardless of his very exclusive familial situation.

The young Dick Grayson, no older than maybe eight or nine years of age, had his knees drawn to his chest in the passenger seat of the Batmobile. It occurred to Damian that it made the boy appear even smaller than usual. Before the night’s events, the boy stood tall; as proud as he could be knowing he was a world renowned Flying Grayson. 

Dick Grayson’s fame was a very different kind of fame than Damian had been exposed to all his life. Back then, people respected the Wayne family as much as the al Ghuls, but for the latter it was mostly out of fear, or greed. This boy that was with Damian came from a very humble type of fame. People were excited to see the Flying Graysons, and were almost always in awe by the family’s stellar performance.

“Are you really gonna take me to an orphanage?” To anyone else, it would’ve been near impossible to understand the boy, but Damian had grown accustomed to listening to voices through tears, especially the tears of young children.

There had been a lot of talk about what to do with Dick Grayson now that his parents were gone. Haly seemed pretty insistent at first, viewing the boy as if he was Haly’s own nephew. Though, with careful speculation, it was decided that Dick Grayson wasn’t safe at the circus anymore, at least not for the time being. If someone was heartless enough to orphan a young boy for money, then they were just as likely to kill the child shortly after.

Damian contemplated how he was to word his next question. This was undoubtedly overwhelming for the boy, and it wasn’t like Damian wanted to make matters worse for him. He opted to simply answer young Grayson’s question with a question. “Is that what you want to do?”

Dick was very quick to shake his head, his mind seemingly already made up. “No.” 

Truthfully, Damian couldn’t blame him. To be thrown into a world so unfamiliar was frightening, but it must have felt even worse knowing someone you don’t trust could take you in and claim you as their new son.

Batman tapped lightly on the steering wheel in thought. He could see in his peripheral that the boy wasn’t looking at him. Dick was busy distracting himself with his hands which upon closer inspection were wet with tears. 

Almost without thinking, Damian spoke up again, “I know a man that’d be willing to take you in. You don’t have to go to the orphanage if you don’t want to.” He could see the boy turn his head to finally look at Batman. Damian immediately regretted what he had said. He wasn’t cut out to parent a child, though Alfred was. Still, he really needed to think this through before housing the young acrobat.

His father never hesitated to take in another child. If it weren’t for that, Damian wouldn’t be the man he is now.

“Really? Is he nice? Who is he?” Damian should’ve been prepared for the onslaught of questions. This was a child he was dealing with afterall. He was bound to have more questions than Damian had answers.

“Are you familiar with the Wayne Foundation?” Once more, Damian ignored Dick’s questions in favour of asking one of his own. 

The boy fell silent for a moment, thinking over what the Wayne Foundation could be. Damian began to believe that asking something like that to a nine year old was a bit silly until the boy eventually spoke up, “I think so. They help pay for the circus. Mr. Wayne was supposed to come see the show tomorrow, but not anymore, I guess.”

The tail end of Dick’s sentence sounded solemn, but at the very least he wasn’t crying anymore. Damian considered that a plus. 

It was true that Damian Wayne was supposed to make an appearance at Haly’s Circus the next day. However, due to a phone call to the manor, he was informed that it was cancelled. It was only a few minutes later when he found out why. 

“Damian Wayne will be willing to take you in if you’d wish. I can notify him and he’ll be expecting you.” It’s amazing how easily Damian could dissolve for the sake of children. He didn’t like the idea of the boy being out on his own in Gotham. Dick wasn’t even in the U.S. but a few weeks at a time, much less in Gotham City; a city that already had an ugly reputation and was certainly not suitable for a little boy to live in alone. 

Dick didn’t speak up immediately after that, opting to look straight ahead at the road instead of at Batman. Damian let him sit in silence to think over the offer. Did he want a new family right away? Would he be better off at the circus with Haly? It was hard to say for certain. 

Eventually, with a small burst of courage, Dick finally spoke up again, “Yeah, you can contact him, Batman.” That settled it. Damian was doing this, taking care of a child, whether he wanted to or not.

“Alright. You can just rest for now, we’ll be there soon.” Batman wasn’t much of a conversationalist, but Dick understood. He nodded briefly before closing his eyes and leaning against the passenger side of the Batmobile. The kid had a long night.

It was only a short time later that Batman woke up a dazed Richard Grayson in front of what could only be Wayne manor. Batman urged Dick out of the vehicle and gave brief orders to knock on the door before briskly driving off.

Dick was momentarily panicked, but he swallowed his anxiety in favour of looking down the cobblestone walkway to the front door. The path looked impossibly long for the young boy and felt even longer as he made the trek down it. The fact he even made it to the large oak doors at the front of manor felt like a miracle. He sucked in a shaky breath, giving the door as firm of a knock as he could manage.

Who opened the door was not who Dick expected. It was a tall, slender old man who looked as though he was dressed for some fancy event. He smiled down at Dick, and the young boy felt a bit of fatherly warmth and security radiating from him. 

“Richard Grayson, I presume? I’m Alfred Pennyworth. Master Damian will meet with you in a few minutes. Please, do come in and make yourself at home.”


End file.
